"New Space": Global space race enters a new phase

The space industry is facing an unprecedented paradigm shift. "New space", the commercial use of outer space, is expanding rapidly and has recently developed extremely dynamically. State actors are increasingly being replaced by investors with private venture capital. "Modern space travel is currently benefiting from groundbreaking technological advances, sharp cost degression and new political support - all of which is opening up a new era of leapfrogging innovations and attractive economic opportunities," says Dr. Heinz-Werner Rapp, founder and head of the FERI Cognitive Finance Institute, on the occasion of a new analysis on the future of the space economy.

Enormous development potential

"New Space" is developing from traditional satellite services to new areas such as space manufacturing, space tourism and the removal of space debris. These advances not only promise new and very diverse business opportunities, but could also offer new solutions to urgent human problems, such as the generation of solar energy in space. The volume of the space economy is expected to at least double to USD 1 trillion by 2040 - a considerable development potential for the future. The use of reusable launcher systems plays a central role in this, which would significantly simplify orbital transportation. Important drivers here are the activities of visionaries such as Tesla boss Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group. All three multi-billionaires have founded their own space companies to transport people into space, build innovative structures and open up completely new areas of the space economy.

A new space race has begun

The transformation of traditional space travel into the "new space" megatrend is being driven in particular by technological developments in the fields of miniaturization, 3D printing, robotics and artificial intelligence. From global satellite networks, earth observation and precision agriculture to space tourism and resource extraction, new business models, value chains and competitive landscapes are emerging. The USA and China already see space travel as a critical "enabling technology" for a new economic area that needs to be managed and secured at an early stage. The moon is also increasingly becoming the focus of the new space race - as a location for permanent space stations and a potential source of resources. Another driver is the increasingly confrontational geopolitical environment. In order not to miss the boat in Europe, companies and state institutions need to cooperate more closely and create targeted synergies. "With the increasing commercialization of space, attractive opportunities are opening up for strategic investors to benefit from the dynamics of 'New Space' in the future," explains Rapp.

The analysis „New Space“: Economic domain of the future has been published by the FERI Cognitive Finance Institute as a "Cognitive Briefing" and is available in German in the download section of this page.